Does it? Does government have enough money and resources to do what it needs to do? That question is the fundamental issue behind each new tax levy and each new ballot measure where government asks the citizens for more money.

First it is important to think about need verses want. What is it we citizens need government to do, as opposed to, what do some want government to do? Much too much of what Federal, State and Local government does is not for the real needs of its citizens, but rather for the wants of special interests. These special interests have cleverly disguised their interest as a public concern and then tricked tax payers into funding their venture. Did we need to rebuild Henley elementary or KU? No, the buildings were just fine. They are old, but they certainly functioned. No one was dying in them. No one was getting sick, and no one injured. But the real-estate/construction/public-union/government sector drool over such public building projects because they funnel money from your pocket to theirs at inflated, government mandated, wages. Is it nicer to drive by a new school building rather than an old one. Sure. But does it educate our children any better? No. And there is a prime example between need and want. The real need is to educate our children. The want is to do it in the best and most expensive buildings in the county. Do children win? No. Do the special interests win? Yes. And special interests win all while fooling the public that we now have “better schools”.

Second, why should government continue to get more and more of our tax dollars? When your income increases, did you know that the amount of money you send to government also increases? So when wages in Klamath County go up, government already gets more money — at the same rate of the citizenry it serves. Likewise, when income goes down, money to the government decreases accordingly. Why then when incomes decrease should government continue spending at the same levels or higher? Why should government be given more money when the rest of us are doing with less?

Finally, government wages & benefits are built on a myth. The myth is a wage & benefit scheme that increases wages every year, whether such increases are deserved or not. This system is not sustainable. This system also rewards public employees for their length of service to government, not their skill level. This is a myth because under such a system government can only fund itself as long as it can continue to increase the amount and the percentage of wealth it takes from the citizens it serves. Public unions are behind this scheme and skim some from every dollar that goes to a public employee. Do public unions serve the public good? No, they serve themselves by continuing to increase the cost of government so they can get more and more. (Think of a parasite).

Does government have enough? Yes, it has plenty and squanders it at every turn because it does not earn the money it gets, it takes it. As long as we allow government to take more and more, will they ever learn to focus on the real needs and not special interest wants? Will they learn to live within their means? Will government pay its employees based on merit not and not length of service? Answer: No, no and no.

5 Comments

Finnious T Fogbottom
~ Dec.
1,
2015 @
11:29am

Much of public employment in the USA today is reminiscent of the full blown Communist days in Russia. If you were in the party the higher you climbed the more you got. If you were outside the Party you faced starvation. One might say that both the Party then and the one here and now sees to its own needs pretty well; without much regard for those on the outside.
Looking in from the outside,
Finnious
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Mel Page
~ Dec.
1,
2015 @
3:49pm

The government gets more of our money because they can and they can because we the voting people put them in office.
Social Security recipients get nothing this year because the price of gas went down.
The problem is: #1 the people making the laws and #2 the people who stayed at home during the elections. It's our fault.
The solution is: Wind up the people, and #2 Create a RECALL election.
Until we have people in office
who will do what we say we will continue to suffer from those who take what's ours.
Action is the only winning course. Use or get around the local paper. Create and present a workable plan to the people
Real estate agents go door to door, we can do the same.
Find the leaders in the communities. Present the urgency, the plan and the solution.
I live in the Philippines and can only vote and use my email, which I am doing. I appreciate the Klamath News. What can you do to increase the readership?
How much is preaching to the choir? Be well, Mel
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Ryan L. Miller
~ Dec.
3,
2015 @
8:58am

Why does it have to be a conspiracy where the public is duped and private interests profit from ignorance? If the voters approved capital improvement projects for public entities, like the schools, is it not entirely possible they made an informed choice and wanted to see the facilities upgraded? Also, waiting to fix something until it is so disheveled someone gets hurt is called negligence and the school districts can be held legally liable for it. That's why they are called on to fix things before they go wrong, not wait until they have no choice. It's like buying a new car when you know yours is old and on its last leg rather than waiting until you blow the motor out.
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E. Werner Reschke
~ Dec.
3,
2015 @
9:31am

Ryan - our goal with any education system should NOT focus around construction projects. Buildings, whether new or old — tents, trailers or the Taj Mahal — do not educate. The problem with Klamath City and County education is not its buildings — it is the education system. The school district always promotes these capital bond measures as being for the children. That's a big lie. It is for the educators/administrators and the realtors and the construction workers and government. What matters most are not the buildings but the education system inside those buildings. Borrowing nearly $40 million dollars to rebuild two buildings is insane, since at the same time they will not change the system inside those buildings. Second, you should wander over to the H&N and take a peak at my letter about “Need and Responsibility” to answer your question about who is responsible about “fixing” things. http://bit.ly/1PAq1BQ -Werner.
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Craig
~ Dec.
3,
2015 @
10:05am

Good Point! It's not about buildings or construction projects. Traid (a private school) has had 100% graduation rates for their entire history, part of which was in modular buildings on an asphalt parking lot. Now, they are renting a former City school that was too dilapidated for the good people of the City. Really? How can Triad use this same property and continually beat the pants of the academic achievements of the publicly funded monopolies? PS - Don't forget that Triad costs and spends 1/2 of what the County and City schools do.
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